Episode 25: The Banality of CIA-Curated Definitions of 'Democracy'

Citations Needed

News, Society & Culture

4.8 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 31 January 2018

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Few words elicit such warm feelings as the term "Democracy." Wars are supposedly fought for it, foreign policies are built around it, protecting and advancing it is considered the United States' highest moral order.

Democracy's alleged opposite - broadly called "authoritarianism," "autocracy" or "tyranny" - is cast as the ultimate evil. The stifling, oppressive boot of the state that curtails liberties and must be fought at all costs. This is the world in which we operate and the one where the United States and its satellite media and NGO allies fight to preserve and defend democracy.

So how is "democracy" defined and how are those definitions used to justify American exceptionalism? Where do positive and negative rights come into play, and how do societal choices like illiteracy, poverty, and hunger factor into our notions of freedom?

On today's episode, we discuss the limits of democracy rankings, the oft-cited "Polity IV" metric devised by the CIA-funded Center for Systemic Peace, and more with guest George Ciccariello-Maher.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Citations Needed with Nemeshirazi and Adam Johnson.
0:09.2	Welcome to Citations Needed, a podcast on the media, power, PR and the history of bullshit
0:15.6	I am Nemeshirazi.
0:16.9	I'm Adam Johnson.
0:17.9	You can find us on Twitter, at CitationsPod, Facebook, at Citations Needed, and of course
0:23.8	you can support the show by going to Patreon Citations Needed podcast with Nemeshirazi and
0:29.2	Adam Johnson.
0:30.2	All your help is always much appreciated of course, helps the show keep going.
0:35.2	Yeah, so thanks for all the support as usual.
0:37.4	The topic of today is one that's that sort of warm and fuzzy to our hearts.
0:41.3	I think as a country and I think as a culture we have a very lofty impression of democracy.
0:45.0	It sort of gives us a sense of warmth.
0:48.2	We fight wars over it.
0:49.8	Our entire moral paradigm is built around it.
0:52.4	And advancing it is sort of the most, I think, consistent moral justification for American,
0:58.2	I guess, imperialism or American expansion overseas that we are promoting democracy.
1:02.8	But it's obviously a very loaded concept.
1:06.1	As it's antithesis, which is generally called authoritarianism.
1:09.4	And authoritarianism is sort of stifling.
1:12.1	It's the state.
1:13.2	It's the curbing of civil rights.
1:15.2	It's the prevention of freedom of space, a freedom of press, for the religion.
	...

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